We’ve reached the time of the season when the Portuguese press picks one local star and writes stories about him every single day.
Manchester United and/or Manchester City are often involved, and it’s no different this time.
It’s Benfica’s João Félix who’s the man of the moment. The 19-year-old is being followed by several European sides, and the local media expect his sale to be the biggest in the history of Portuguese football.
A week ago, we covered claims from Lisbon newspapers saying Benfica would like to keep the player at least until 2020, so they could enjoy having him featuring for the Eagles a little bit.
But he may leave before that, according to Record. Because on their front page story today, the newspaper explains that agent Jorge Mendes has already told the Benfica president Luís Felipe Vieira that a bid of over €120m is being made next summer. As €120m is the amount of his release clause, there’s not much the Eagles could do.
Record lists the interested sides as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Manchester United, PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich. But there aren’t specific details about any of these clubs.
Sure thing is that Benfica expect to seriously cash in with the sale of João Félix, a youngster who only has 21 appearances for the club so far.
